Clermont-en-Argonne

Clermont-en-Argonne
Clermont-en-Argonne
Location within Lorraine region  Clermont-en-Argonne
Administration
Country	France
Region	Lorraine
Department	Meuse
Arrondissement	Verdun
Canton	Clermont-en-Argonne
Intercommunality	Centre Argonne
Mayor	Bernard Villefayot (2001–2008)
Statistics
Elevation	163–303 m (535–994 ft) (avg. 295 m/968 ft)
Land area1	66.94 km2 (25.85 sq mi)
Population2	1,767  (1999)
- Density	26 /km2 (67 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	55117/ 55120
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Coordinates: 49°06′23″N 5°04′18″E / 49.10638°N 5.0716°E / 49.10638; 5.0716

Clermont-en-Argonne is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.

The former towns of Auzéville-en-Argonne, Jubécourt, and Parois were joined to Clermont-en-Argonne in 1973.

Geography

The town is located along the old road from Paris to Verdun (RN3), which at this point is closely tracked by the A4 autoroute, on the edge of the Forest of Argonne. It is approximately 15 km to the east of Sainte-Menehould.

Clermont's population has declined slightly in the last decade to 1,642 (in 2004), which gives a population density of 24.7 inhabitants per km². The mechanisation of agriculture that took place during the 20th century left this region, which remains overwhelmingly rural, short of employment opportunities: Clermont's economy has tended to suffer from the drift of working age populations to the towns and cities.

History

In 1819, Norwich Duff wrote 'Clermont en Argonne is a very small town situated on the side of a hill on top of which there is a telegraph, a small church, and very extensive and fine views'.

The telegraph station was one in line of a Semaphore line constructed in the Napoleonic period for the rapid transmission of messages between Paris and Landau; but by 1819 France's eastern frontiers had been much reduced, and the final point of this telegraph line was first Landau and after 1819 Strasbourg. The platform where the Clermont telegraph station stood still exists, as do fine views from it in the direction of Verdun to the east. (A line of trees blocks the former panoramic view to the west.) The telegraph line closed in 1852, the year when the rail road linking Paris to Strasbourg was opened. The Clermont telegraph station was destroyed in or before 1916, when the platform on which it had stood was used as the mounting position for a large gun.

Back in 1819 Norwich Duff also recorded that the town 'is said to have manufacturies of paper and glass, but I did not see any of them. Clermont might easily be fortified'.

At the foot of the hill, Clermont is still a small town, its centre not radically 'improved' during the 20th century. It boasts (at least) one excellent restaurant.

See also

• Communes of the Meuse department